Pic by Jason Rosewarne
Gerry Beckley, the illustrious singer, songwriter, performer and co-founder of legendary band, America, is set to release a greatest hits package featuring his solo work. Keeping The Light On – The Best of Gerry Beckley will be available At JB HiFi nationally from April 30, pre order HERE
Australian Musician editor Greg Phillips caught up with Gerry on Zoom to chat about the ‘Best Of’ compilation album and songwriting in general.
Keeping The Light On – The Best of Gerry Beckley is now available to pre-order and will be released as a deluxe double cd, featuring a 44-page booklet including photos taken by Beckley during his tour travels over the last 50 years. The album will also be offered as a double LP set in translucent vinyl, or in a limited edition cloudy marbleized version. Included with each pre-order from BlueElan.com will be a bonus CD that contains nine tracks of Beckley-penned songs recorded by all-female contemporary indie artists, and includes covers of classic America tunes such as “Sister Golden Hair” and “Daisy Jane.”
For Australian fans, Keeping The Light On – The Best of Gerry Beckley is now licensed by Tasman Records/MGM and available in Australia at JBHIFI Nationwide from 30th April
Pic by Jason Rosewarne
Keeping The Light On – The Best of Gerry Beckley takes stock of Beckley’s writing career so far. The album offers a generous 20-track overview of Beckley’s output — and beyond. Songs culled from his first solo outing, Van Go Gan, whose ringing, uptempo “Emma,” smoothly dynamic “Now Sue” and lush, lightly country-flavoured “Goodbye Highway” — all of which he co-produced with good pal Hal Linderman — are featured on Keeping The Light On. The rest of the track listing is also culminated from his six subsequent solo albums — 2000’s Go Man Go, 2006’s Horizontal Fall, 2009’s Happy Hour, 2011’s Unfortunate Casino, 2016’s Carousel and 2019’s Five Mile Road. – including “Watching the Time,” a collaboration with Carl Wilson (the Beach Boys) and Robert Lamm (Chicago). There are also five previously unreleased tracks, including an unreleased America fan favorite, “Norman” and second single “(I’m Your) Heart Slave,” that offer proof of how prodigious Beckley’s output is when he’s in songwriting mode.
Keeping The Light On – The Best of Gerry Beckley takes stock of Beckley’s writing career so far. The album offers a generous 20-track overview of Beckley’s output — and beyond. Songs culled from his first solo outing, VAN GO GAN, whose ringing, uptempo “Emma,” smoothly dynamic “Now Sue” and lush, lightly country flavoured “Goodbye Highway” — all of which he co-produced with good pal Hal Linderman are featured on KEEPING THE LIGHT ON. The rest of the track listing is also culminated from his six subsequent solo albums — 2000’s GO MAN GO, 2006’s HORIZONTAL FALL, 2009’s HAPPY HOUR, 2011’s UNFORTUNATE CASINO, 2016’s CAROUSEL and 2019’s FIVE MILE ROAD – including “Watching the Time”, a collaboration with Carl Wilson (the Beach Boys) and Robert Lamm (Chicago). There are also five previously unreleased tracks, including an unreleased America fan favourite, “Norman” and second single “(I’m Your) Heart Slave,” that offer proof of how prodigious Beckley’s output is when he’s in songwriting mode.
Keeping The Light On – The Best of Gerry Beckley Track Listing:
1. 3am
2. Crying
3. Emma
4. Watching The Time
5. Calling You
6. Self Image
7. Now Sue
8. Goodbye Highway
9. Norman
10. Always
11. Hang Your Head High
12. (I’m Your) Heart Slave
13. Life Lessons
14. Once A Distant Heart
15. Tokyo
16. Cup Of Rain
17. How Can I Turn You Away
18. Calling
19. Home Again
20. Keeping The Light On
For Australian fans, Keeping The Light On – The Best of Gerry Beckley is now licensed by Tasman Records/MGM and available in Australia at JBHIFI Nationwide from 30th April. Pre-order HERE